Vacuum cleaner bag with closed tube



1967 c. E. MEYERHOEFER VACUUM CLEANER BAG WITH CLOSED TUBE Filed June 10, 1965 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Ofiice 3,237,233 Patented Jan. 10, 1967 3,297,233 VACUUM CLEANER BAG WITH CLOSED TUBE Carl E. Meyerhoefer, Little Neck, N.Y., assignor to Equitable Paper Bag Co., Inc., Long Island City, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed June 10, 1965, Ser. No. 462,976 6 Claims. (Cl. 229-53) This invention relates to disposable paper bags for use in vacuum cleaners.

The use of vacuum cleaner bags made of air-pervious paper and having inexpensive construction so that they can be thrown away when filled, has become popular for household use. Such bags may be purchased at hardware stores, markets, and other places dealing in household supplies. Because of the number of different makes of vacuum cleaners and the different models requiring different bags, it has been necessary for dealers to stock a large variety of different bags.

It is an object of this invention to provide a vacuum cleaner bag made of paper and constructed in such a way that it can be used with a greater variety of different vacuum cleaners than has been the case with bags of the prior art.

Another object is to provide a paper bag for vacuum cleaners with a tube communicating with the interior of the bag, and to have both ends of the bag closed, and the end of the tube remote from the bag also closed, both the bag and the tube having indicia thereon at predetermined locations, indicating places where the tube and the bag can be cut off to open the end of the bag or the tube at the right place to fit the bag to a particular make and model of vacuum cleaner. If the bag is used with a vacuum cleaner where the bag is cut off at one end to fit over the outlet of the suction pipe of the vacuum cleaner, then the tube is not used as a conduit, but since the end of the tube is closed, it does not permit the escape of dust from the bag and the tube does provide some additional capacity for air and dust.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away and in section, showing a vacuum cleaner bag made in accordance with this invention and showing one way in which it is used;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged isometric view of the bag shown in FIGURE 1 with the tube at the top of the bag and showing the tube in a flattened condition and before the end is cut off;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional View taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 are diagrammatic isometric views showing how the bag is used on different models of vacuum cleaners.

A bag 10 includes a front panel 12 and a back panel 14 connected together by side panels 16 which have accordion pleats 18. In the preferred construction, the bag 10 has the panels 12, 14 and 16 of one-piece construction and is preferably a tube having a lap seam 20 extending lengthwise of the back panel 14. The bag is made of air-pervious paper which acts as a filter to prevent the escape of dust from air which is blown into the bag, in accordance with the conventional operation of vacuum cleaners.

The bag 10 is closed at both ends. The pleats 18 are folded flat between the front and back panels 12 and 14, respectively, and the back panel 14 is folded across a portion of the front panel 12 as a flap 22 (FIGURE 1). The pleats 18 of the side panels 16 may also extend beyond the end of the front panel 12 and be folded across the front panel 12, in the same manner as the flap 22, though preferably with each pleat shorter than the next adjacent pleat to facilitate the adhesive connection of the folded parts to the front panel 12. Details of this construction are not shown in FIGURE 1, in order to make the illustration clearer, but the construction is well understood in the art and its illustration in the drawing is unnecessary for a complete understanding of this invention.

The other end of the bag 10 is closed by a similar construction, but the front panel 12 is folded across a por-- tion of the back panel 14 and the flap at the end of the panel 12 is indicated by the reference character 22.

There is an opening 26 through the front panel 12. This opening 26 is preferably spaced from both sides of the bag and from both ends, though it is substantially nearer to one end than to the other. There is a tube 28 connected to the front panel 12. This tube 28 is made as a flat tube with a front panel 30 and a back panel 32. The tube 28 is preferably made with a lap seam 33, extending in the direction of its length and this lap seam is preferably in the front panel 39. The back panel 32 is secured to the front panel 12 of the bag by adhesive 34; and there is an opening 36 in the back panel 32 of the tube in register with the opening 26 of the bag. Since I the tube panel 32 is attached to the bag panel 12 by adhesive 34 extending all around the openings 26 and 36, no air can escape around the edges of these openings 26 and 36 where the tube and bag are secured together. The panels 30 and 32 of the tube 28 are brought together and secured under the flap 22 to close the end of the tube 28 beyond its connection with the front panel 12.

When originally supplied to the user, the tube 28 is closed, at its end remote from the bag, by a fold 40 (FIGURE 3) in which the folded panels are secured together by adhesive. The tube 28 is narrower than the bag and it is of substantially less circumferential extent, when opened up, because it has no side panels. When the bag is to be used in a vacuum cleaner requiring a tube, the folded end 40 of the tube 28 is cut off. The cut is made at whatever location will make the tube 28 the proper length for the particular vacuum cleaner in which the bag is to be used. For example, the front panel 30 of the tube has indicia 42, 44 and 46 at different distances from the end showing where the tube is to be cut for a particular model vacuum cleaner. The information identifying the different indicia 42, 44 and 46 with particular models of vacuum cleaners may be printed on the tube itself, or may be on a direction sheet supplied with the bag.

FIGURE 1 shows the tube 28 cut off at the station of indicia 42, and shows the tube placed over an air inlet or suction pipe 48 of a vacuum cleaner. The tube 28 is held on the suction pipe 48 by clamping means 50; such clamping means being different on different models of vacuum cleaners. FIGURE 6 shows the tube 28 connected with the suction pipe 48 of a vacuum cleaner 52 by the clamping means 50.

If the bag is to be used with a vacuum cleaner having a longer suction pipe, such as the pipe 54 (FIGURE 5) of a vacuum cleaner 56, then the tube 28 is cut off at one of the other indicia lines 44 or 46 and is held on the suction pipe by clamping means 58.

The bag of this invention can also be used with vacuum cleaners in which the bag is directly connected with a suction pipe. FIGURE 7 shows such a construction.

A suction pipe 62 extends into an open end of the bag and the bag is held on the suction pipe by clamping means such as a retainer coil spring 64. In order to make such a connection of the bag to the suction pipe 62, the end of the bag is cut along a line indicated by indicia 66 and the bag is then opened up sufiiciently to extend around the suction pipe 62. Because of the pleated sides 16, the bag 10 accommodates itself to suction pipes of different diameter.

When the bag 10 is connected directly to a suction pipe 62, as shown in FIGURE 7, it will be understood that the tube 28 is not cut and the end of the tube remains closed so that no air can escape from the tube except such air as passes through the air-pervious paper of which the tube is preferably constructed. When the tube is not used as a conduit connected with the suction pipe of the cleaner, it serves the purpose of providing additional capacity for air and dust in the bag. In FIG- URE 7 the tube 28 is on the far side of the bag and part of the outline of the tube is indicated.

The bag 10 is made long enough for vacuum cleaners of the make and model requiring the longest bag of any of the group with which the bag is intended to be used. For other vacuum cleaners, which have less bag space, the end portion of the bag remote from its connection with the tube 28, is creased and folded back under the tube, effectively to shorten the bag, as necessary.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A vacuum cleaner bag construction comprising a bag made of air-pervious paper, the bag having front and back panels, and being closed at both ends, a tube having an interior that connects with the interior of the bag through an opening in the front panel of the bag, the sides of the tube being secured to the front panel around the entire periphery of the opening for preventing leakage of air between the sides of the tube and the front panel of the bag around the periphery of said opening, the tube being closed at both ends, and a portion of the length of the tube for a substantial distance from one end being free of any connection with the bag around the entire periphery of the tube corresponding end portions of the bag and tube, where the bag and tube are not connected with one another, being adapted to be cut off to leave the end of the bag or tube open, the periphery of the end 4 of the bag being different from that of the end of the tube for fitting different vacuum cleaners with which the bag is intended to be used.

2. The vacuum cleaner bag construction described in claim 1 characterized by the connection of the tube to the bag and the opening from the tube into the bag being nearer one end of the bag than the other, and the portion of the tube length that is free of the bag being approximately at least half of the length of the tube.

3. The vacuum cleaner bag described in claim 2 characterized by the bag having accordion-pleated side panels connected with the front and back panels along both sides of the bag for increasing the capacity of the bag when the front and back panels are moved apart, the pleats extending lengthwise of the tube and being gathered into the connection of the front and back panels of the bag with one another at the end of the bag remote from the opening of the tube into the bag, and the gathered pleats being part of the periphery of the open end of the bag when the end portion of the bag is cut to open it to fit the vacuum cleaner for which it is intended, and the periphery of the end of the bag when open being substantially larger than the periphery of the tube.

4. The vacuum cleaner bag described in claim 3 characterized by the tube being made of paper and having a plurality of cutting Zones indicated thereon at different distances along its length corresponding to different vacuum cleaner sizes with which it is intended to be used.

5. The vacuum cleaner bag described in claim 4 characterized by other indications on the bag near the end where the front and back panels are connected together remote from the connection of the bag and the tube for indicating a location where the bag is to be cut off to open one end of the bag for connection with an air inlet of a particular vacuum cleaner.

6. The vacuum cleaner bag described in claim 5 characterized by the tube being made of air-pervious paper and providing added filter area for the combined bag and tube.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,672,213 3/1954 Cropley 229-53 X 2,995,205 8/ 196 1 Cordell 229-5 3 X 3,197,118 7/ 1965 Meyerhoefer 2295 3 X GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner.

DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Examiner. 

1. A VACUUM CLEANER BAG CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING A BAG MADE OF AIR-PERVIOUS PAPER, THE BAG HAVING FRONT AND BACK PANELS, AND BEING CLOSED AT BOTH ENDS, A TUBE HAVING AN INTERIOR THAT CONNECTS WITH THE INTERIOR OF THE BAG THROUGH AN OPENING IN THE FRONT PANEL OF THE BAG, THE SIDES OF THE TUBE BEING SECURED TO THE FRONT PANEL AROUND THE ENTIRE PERIPHERY OF THE OPENING FOR PREVENTING LEAKAGE OF AIR BETWEEN THE SIDES OF THE TUBE AND THE FRONT PANEL OF THE BAG AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF SAID OPENING, THE TUBE BEING CLOSED AT BOTH ENDS, AND A PORTION OF THE LENGTH OF THE TUBE FOR A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE FROM ONE END BEING FREE OF ANY CONNECTION WITH THE BAG AROUND THE ENTIRE PERIPHERY OF THE TUBE CORRESPONDING END PORTIONS OF THE BAG AND TUBE, WHERE THE BAG AND TUBE ARE NOT CONNECTED WITH ONE ANOTHER, BEING ADAPTED TO BE CUT OFF TO LEAVE THE END OF THE BAG OR TUBE OPEN, THE PERIPHERY OF THE END OF THE BAG BEING DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF THE END OF THE TUBE FOR FITTING DIFFERENT VACUUM CLEANERS WITH WHICH THE BAG IS INTENDED TO BE USED. 